Deckle-strap.



F. L. SMITH.

DEGKLE STRAP.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 16, 1911.

1 ,022 ,5 1 3. Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

WITNESSES & INVENTOR;

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STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. SMITH, OF' AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE B. F. GOODRIOH COMPANY, OF AKRON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

DECKLE STRAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

Application filed June 16, 1911. Serial No. 633,522.

inafter set forth, reference being had to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a por tion of the strap constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 a similar view of a section of the material of or from which the reinforcing members of the strap are formed; and Fig. 3 a like view of a section of one of the reinforcing elements.

The object of the present invention is to produce a strap which will be efficient under all working conditions, and while sufliciently pliable to adapt itself to various requirements will yet not unduly stretch or elongate; one which will freely conform to the pulleys or rollers over which it passes, and a construction in which any side or face may be placed in working contact or relation with the screens or suction-boxes of the paper machine in which it is employed.

Various straps have heretofore been produced, some of which were more or less efficient in action and some of :such straps have been provided with longitudinally-disposed reinforcing members of fabric or the like, but so far as I am aware, said structures have been open to more or less objection, by reason of the fact that they were too stiff and consequently did not conform to the machine with which they were em ployed, or if not too stiff, they were of such formation that they would unduly elongate or stretch when in use.

The strap which forms the basis of the present invention has been found in actual practice to adapt and lend itself to the varying conditions of use, while at the same time being reversible so that any one of its faces may be placed in juxtaposition to the wire or screen of the machine, and the reinforcing elements are of such construction that the strap as a whole is flexible to the required degree and is equally flexible no matter in what direction it may be bent or curved in use.

The preferred form of construction for accomplishing these results 1s shown in the accompanying drawings. The remforcmg -members, designated as a whole by 1, are

each composed of a series of superposed layers of fabric and rubber. These members may be readily formed by superimposing a series of layers of duck or other fabric 2,

each of which is coated with a rubber solution. The pile thus produced is cut through upon the lines 3, producing square strips,

and such strips are again divided upon one of the diagonals 0f the square, producing my preferred triangular reinforcing strips I. Said strips are then properly placed and laid into a mold with the rubber, forming the body of the strap, and the whole is then vulcanized to produce a strap of the crosssection shown in Fig. 1. As will be seen upon an inspection of said figure, the adjacent strips 1 are separated from each other by an interposed layer or body of rubber 4, and the several fabric layers are also separated from each other by rubber. The fabric layers of the upper and lower reinforcing members lie in parallel planes and at right angles to the fabric layers of the other two members, the layers of the other two members consequently lying in parallel planes. It will also be seen that the fabric layers of the various reinforcing elements stand at an angle of 45 to the adjacent face of the strap, or, stated in another way, parallel to one of the diagonals of the strap, and at right angles to the other diagonal. This formation, while simple and easy of exact formation, gives to the strap throughout its length that pliability and flexibility which are necessary to a successful device and at the same time prevents undue elongation. None of the layers of fabric being at right angles to any face of the strap, the strap is more flexible and may more readily be bent or curved, no matter in what direction such bending or curving occurs, than with any other disposition of the layers. Furthermore, each face of the strap will have the same freedom to rock or tilt to conform to the surface of the wire or screen of the machine as each other face, and any tendency toward undesirable twisting of the strap in one direction, due to the diagonal arrangement of the fabric layers of two opposite reinforcing members, is counteracted by the tendency of the other two reinforcing members to twist the strap in the other direction. The interposition of the layers 4 between the reinforcing elements assists in rendering the strap flexible, and moreover ties the various sections of the strap together.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A deckle-strap, consisting of a band of flexible rubber square in cross-section, having a plurality of reinforcing elements therein, said elements being symmetrically disposed with reference to the center of the strap, and each element being composed of layers of fabric, said layers lying in planes oblique to any face of the strap.

2. A deckle-strap, consisting of a band of flexible rubber square in cross-section, having a plurality of reinforcing elements therein, said elements being symmetrically disposed with reference to the center of the strap, and each element being composed of layers of fabric, said layers being in planes oblique to any face of the strap, and the layers of each element being in planes at right angles to the planes of the layers of each adjoining element.

3. A deckle-strap consisting of a band of flexible rubber square in cross-section, containing reinforcement composed of longitudinally-extending layers of fabric lying in planes oblique to the faces of the band, half of said layers lying in planes at right angles to the remaining layers, the layers of each such half being symmetrically disposed with reference to the center of the strap.

4. A deckle-strap consisting of a band of flexible rubber, square in cross-section, having embedded therein a plurality of reinforcing elements, each element being triangular in cross-section, the apices of the elements pointing toward the center of the strap, each element being composed of laminated, rubber-coated fabric, the layers in any one element lying in a plane at substantially right angles to the planes of the fabric in the next adjacent elements, and at an angle of substantially 45 to the adjacent outer face of the strap.

5. A deckle-strap consisting of a band of flexible rubber, square in cross-section, having' embedded therein a plurality of symmetricallydisposed reinforcing elements composed of laminated fabric, the fabric of half of said elements lying in planes parallel to one diagonal of the strap, while the fabric of the other half of said elements stands at substantially right angles to said diagonal.

6. A deckle-strap consisting of a band of flexible rubber, square in cross-section, having embedded therein a plurality of reinforcing elements of laminated woven fabric, each element being triangular in cross-section with its apex pointing toward the cen ter of the strap.

7 A deckle-strap consisting of a band of flexible rubber square in cross-section, having embedded therein a plurality of reinforcing elements each triangular in crosssect-ion, each element being composed of laminated rubber-coated duck fabric.

8. A deckle-strap consisting of a band of flexible rubber square in cross-section, having embedded therein a plurality of reinforcing elements, each element being triangular in cross-section and composed of laminated, rubber-coated woven fabric, the apex of each element pointing toward the center of the strap, and the fabric in one element lying in a plane at right angles to the fabric of the next adjacent element.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK L. SMITH.

WVitnesses:

WALBUT MEANS, EMMETT J. OBRIEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

